Alabama is currently part of college football’s new expanded playoff picture. The Crimson Tide was ranked No. 11 in the first of six College Football Playoff rankings released by the selection committee Tuesday night. This year’s playoff has been expanded from four teams to 12 teams.
Oregon currently sits at the top spot followed by No. 2 Ohio State No. and 3 Georgia No. 4 Miami. The rest of the playoff field is rounded out by No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Indiana, No. 9 BYU, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 11 Alabama and No. 12 Boise State.
The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded 1-4 and will also a receive first-round bye. That means currently BYU would move to the No. 4 seed as the Big 12 representative, bumping everyone it passed down one spot. Meanwhile, Ohio State would then drop to the No. 5 seed and would not receive a first-round bye.
Teams seeded 5-12 will face off in the first round with the better seed hosting on its college campus. As the playoff picture stands now, those matchups would include:
No. 12 seed Boise State at No. 5 seed Ohio State
No. 11 seed Alabama at No. 6 seed Texas
No. 10 seed Notre Dame at No. 7 seed Penn State
No. 9 seed Indiana at No. 8 seed Tennessee
The four winners of those matchups will move on to face the top four seeds in the quarterfinal finals. Those matchups would include.
No. 12 Boise State/No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 4 seed BYU
No. 11 Alabama/No. 6 Texas vs. No. 3 Miami
No. 10 Notre Dame/No. 7 Penn State vs. No. 2 Georgia
No. 9 Indiana/No. 8 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Oregon
The quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds of the playoff will all be held at neutral sites. This year’s national championship game will take place in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Jan. 20.
Alabama’s playoff resume includes wins over two ranked teams — No. 3 Georgia (41-34 at home) and No. 24 Missouri (34-0 at home). The victory over the Bulldogs is currently the second-best win in the nation behind Oregon’s 32-31 win over Ohio State.
Alabama will have a chance to add another ranked win to its resume on Saturday as it travels to No. 15 LSU for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff inside Tiger Stadium. The game will be televised on ABC.
2024 College Football Playoff rankings
1. Oregon 8-0
2. Ohio State 7-1
3. Georgia 7-1
4. Miami 9-0
5. Texas, 7-2
6. Penn State 7-1
7. Tennessee 7-1
8. Indiana 8-0
9. BYU 8-0
10. Notre Dame 7-1
11. Alabama 6-2
12 Boise State 7-1
13. SMU 8-1
14. Texas A&M 7-2
15. LSU 6-2
16. Ole Miss 7-2
17. Iowa State 7-1
18. Pittsburgh 7-1
19. Kansas State 7-2
20. Colorado 6-2
21. Washington State 7-1
22. Louisville 6-3
23. Clemson 6-2
24. Missouri 6-2
25. Army 8–0
